UBS Group Issues Positive Forecast for Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Stock Price

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) had its target price lifted by UBS Group from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the oil and gas producer’s stock.

OXY has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday, March 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.91.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $57.98 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.78. Occidental Petroleum has a fifty-two week low of $37.40 and a fifty-two week high of $67.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.01 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.60%.

Institutional Trading of Occidental Petroleum

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Carrera Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the third quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.